“A
business’ efficiency, effectiveness, and profitability depends on how well its
employees function in the organizational structure” (Apollo Group, 2009, pg.2).
Iwamoto, Crews, Coe (IC2) is an Industrial Organizational consulting firm that
specializes in the improvement of organizational development, professional
growth, marketing, and public relations. The purpose of this paper is to review
an organization that specializes in the design, development, and distribution
of surgical equipment used for minimally invasive endoscopic surgical
procedures: Benedek Medical Technologies, Inc.

In this
review will be the identification of a problem that the organization is
currently facing, applicable research that will aid IC2 with the correction of
such problems, and the most appropriate research method and design to use in an
effort to rectify the situation. In this evaluation will be the inclusion of
potential threats to internal and external validity in the research to follow,
in conjunction with the best ways in which to circumvent them.

Background of the Problem and the
Purpose

Benedek
Medical Technologies, Inc. is currently facing some challenges within the
organization. Challenges that have surfaced are not related to product value or
distribution capabilities as the organization has been rapidly expanding over
the course of the past five years. The problem lays with the organizations
ability to hire enough people that meet the qualifications put forth by the
organization to ensure that there will be continued success. The number of
salespeople must be exponentially increased to appease the rapid growth that
the organization is currently experiencing, and projected to continue
experiencing.

Currently,
“the organization’s goal is to employ 90 sales professionals, and hire and
train them, using a phased approach based on production schedules and product
availability” (Apollo Group, 2009). Due to the organizational growth this
company is experiencing, there needs to be a more effective measurement of
sales people soon to be recruited. The organization has to hire people that
will be effective during the organization’s continuous growth. The research
proposal to follow will serve the purpose of developing effective tools and
reporting methodologies to determine if employees will be operative while they
are still in training.

This
particular challenge is of concern to Benedek Medical Technologies, Inc.
because the lack of qualified recruits, new hires, and sales personnel within
the organization can substantially hamper the organization’s ability to be
successful. The organization is growing rapidly and therefore, new sales
personnel must be able to adequately adapt to the growing needs of the
organization without hindering the organization’s ability to be successful. The
primary goal is to reduce the overall risk of high turnover rates amongst new employees.

Research Method and Design
Appropriateness

“Because the future success of new hires is determined on
their mastery of training material, Benedek has contracted with IC2 to design
the multiple choice tests, and administer and report test results at the
conclusion of the initial and subsequent training sessions” (Apollo Group,
2009). To truly understand which research method and design is most appropriate
in this case, the question that must be posed is whether or not the implementation
of a sales aptitude test will aid in determining the current and projected
effectiveness of sales personnel within the company? With this question posed,
it is hypothesized that the utilization of a sales aptitude test will, in fact,
help to enhance the performance and overall effectiveness of newly hired sales
personnel.

This particular type of research is collectively recognized
as quantitative in nature as it incorporates the use of questionnaires to
determine individual adaptability and aptitudes. The implementation of a
quantitative type of research method will help IC2, as well as Benedek Medical
Technologies, Inc. to identify the cause and effect of issues that might arise,
and are already prevalent within the organization as they relate to
comprehensive selection processes. The use of multiple choice tests in the
quantitative research approach will be advantageous because it is described to
be a “realist approach, sometimes positivist, while the world view underlying
qualitative research, the opposite of quantitative research, is viewed as being
subjective” (Creswell, 2012).

The Scientific Method

The
scientific method, as it pertains to Industrial Organizational research, is
explained to be “a way to ask and answer questions by making observations and
doing experiments” (Anderson, 1983). Following the steps of the scientific
method, the first responsibility is to ask a question. The question as it
pertains to the aforementioned issue Benedek Medical Technologies, Inc. is
facing is whether or not the implementation of multiple choice tests at the
conclusion of new employee initial training and subsequent training sessions
will increase retention rates. Thereby, solidifying the organizations workforce
in such a way that continued, and rapid growth can remain plausible.

Having
appeased the first step of the scientific method, asking a question, the second
step entails the conduction of background research regarding the potential
effectiveness of implementing aptitude tests. Initial research, presented by a
Human Resource Management Professional, Georgina Clatworthy (2015) submits that
the implementation of employee aptitude tests, in conjunction with interviewing
techniques, can greatly aid Human Resource Managers in making informed
decisions when it comes to hiring new employees.

To
ensure that this step is followed and remains applicable to the research at
hand, there would need to be different types of aptitude tests utilized to
ensure that the goal of employee retention is achieved. Due to the nature of
the business and niche that the Benedek Medical Technologies organization
operates in, the first type of aptitude test would need to be a knowledge test.
Knowledge tests are “designed to measure how much a candidate knows about a
particular aspect of the job and should be based on a particular topic that is
relevant to the job to ensure the candidate has the required level of
knowledge” (Clatworthy, 2015).

A
second applicable type of aptitude test that should be utilized in the initial
determination of candidates for this organization would be personality tests.
The majority of the people that Benedek Medical Technologies, Inc. will be
hiring will be sales associates which, by its very nature, means that they will
be making, or not making sales, based on the candidates ability to appeal to
the consumers and shareholders. Clatworthy (2015) explains that there are
several types of personality tests available but employment screenings will
commonly use one that is intrinsically designed to measure five basic factors
of personality: “(1) openness to experience, (2) extroversion, (3)
agreeableness, (4) conscientiousness, and (5) emotional stability” (Clatworthy,
2015).

The
most applicable type of personality test that should be used by this
organization was developed by Briggs Myers. It is composed of 44 questions and
takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. An example of some of the questions
that will be in this particular survey include a scale of 1-4 wherein
candidates are to determine which closely represents their personality.
Calm/energetic, traditional/innovative, supportive/logical,
organized/spontaneous, shy/outgoing, factual/imaginative, and many more
(Truity, n.d.).

The
third step in the scientific method is to develop a hypothesis which was done
in the earlier portion of this proposal. To recap, it is hypothesized that the
utilization of a sales aptitude test will, in fact, help to enhance the
performance and overall effectiveness of newly hired sales personnel. In these
testing procedures will be the inclusion of personality testing and knowledge
testing which will both viably determine each candidate’s adaptability
capabilities.

To
most meritoriously test this hypothesis, it is recommended that Benedek Medical
Technologies, Inc. generate a pool of potential candidates wherein half of the
group of candidates will remain as the control group. This control group will
go through the hiring process that the organization has used in the past and
will not undergo any of the proposed changes that have been presented by IC2
consultants. The second half of the group will undergo the hiring process in
the newly proposed manner and after a period of six months, all employees will
be reevaluated and turnover rates will be measured for each group.

To
validate the aforementioned hypothesis, there will need to be substantially
lower turnover rates in the experimental group compared to those in the control
group. If this is not the case, IC2 and Benedek Medical Technologies, Inc. will
need to reevaluate the proposed methods in which to achieve this goal as this
will emulate the fact that aptitude tests are not the key to ensuring retention
rates and continued organizational success.

Data Analysis

“Data
analysis is the process of finding the right data to answer your question,
understanding the processes underlying the data, discovering the important
patterns in the data, and then communicating your results to have the biggest
possible impact” (Mosteller & Turkey, 1977). Data obtained throughout this
research will be analyzed using what is referred to as Constant Comparative
Analysis. This particular approach was initially intended to be used in the
Grounded Theory Methodology of research but has since become applicable to
other forms of research as well. It is in this method that symbolic
interactionism and strategy is identified. This is achieved by taking one piece
of data and comparing it to others that may be similar or different in an
effort to efficaciously develop conceptualizations of possible relationships
between pieces of data.

For
example, people that have a Master’s degree and more work experience may be
more introverted than those that have an Associates and have less work
experience. This is something that would need to be realized when Benedek
Medical Technologies, Inc. is recruiting potential sales personnel. “Naturalistic
inquiry, thematic analysis, and interpretive description are methods that
depend on constant comparative analysis processes to develop ways of
understanding human phenomena within the context in which they are experienced”
(Thorne, 2000).

For
data analysis to continue to be accurate and reliable throughout the course of
this research, researchers should also make it a point to compare and contrast
the different types of personalities that have surfaced as a result of the
aptitude tests. This will help to determine what personalities are naturally
more likely to succeed in a rapidly growing, and demanding sales environment
compared to others. This information is then compared to those in the control
group to determine not only if the new testing procedures have been effective,
but how members of the control group differ from those in the experimental
group on a personal and professional level.

Reliability and Validity

To
improve testing results for the sole purpose of ensuring research reliability
and validity, it is important to establish the questionnaires in an easy to
read and understand format. Furthermore,
qualitative analysis and the review of the data will not be considered reliable
or valid if certain components are, or were not present in the initial study.
For example, those that are involved in the study must be able to comprehend
the phenomenon that is being studied, understand what their role is in the
study, and compare other similar studies to the findings that result.

Other
ways that the reliability and validity of the study can be achieved, or
improved upon is through consistency. If one group of candidates has a
different experience than a secondary group, this will ultimately eliminate the
reliability of the study and create and ethical issue in regard to the
truthfulness and completeness of the findings overall. Accuracy can be achieved
through the assurance that the most up-to-date testing equipment and
questionnaires are used and reliability can be achieved when results are the
same every time across a series of experimental groups.

Internal and External Validity

When
using questionnaires, sometimes the layout can be poorly organized and
respondents might repeat a pattern when answering rather than providing
accurate information. “If given a choice of response on a scale 1-5, they will
usually opt for the middle point, and often tend to miss out subsections to
questions” (Brace, 2008). This can be perceived as a threat to both internal
and external validity because the researchers are going to annotate inaccurate
information that will later then be communicated to interested parties
inaccurately.

Threats
to internal validity can be seen in history; meaning an event that was anticipated
occurred during the process of the research which would not likely occur in
another experimental group. This would change the data markers and create more
room for invalid information. External validity can be improved upon be
ensuring that population and ecological representations are similar and
accurate throughout the experiment. While this is important to ensuring that
validity is achieved, it can also lead to ethical issues relating to
discrimination.

Ethical Issues

“Human
subject issues are most salient in survey research, experiments, and field
research and least salient in existing documents, secondary data analysis,
content analysis, or historical-comparative research” (Neuman, 2011).The ethical component of research is
paramount when determinations of validity and applicability are being
conducted.While some experiments may
present ethical issues by their very nature, there are five steps that
researchers can intentionally make to ensure that the most common ethical
issues are avoided.

First,
researchers must discuss intellectual property frankly which means that
researchers are to be frank with research participants regarding the purpose of
the research, their role, and how the information will be used. All
participants in this particular research are to be made aware that their
involvement in the study will not have any extra bearing on their ability to
work with the organization. Also, researchers are to be conscious of their
roles during the research process. This means that they are not to guide
participants in any wayand all
information that is obtained is to remain unchanged and in its original state
for the purpose of comparison and data analysis. Finally, all candidates must
sign an informed-consent document stating that they are aware of their
involvement in the study and that they understand it has no outside bearing on
their ability to achieve gainful employment.

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